Digital Learning Day 2016

Digital Learning Day is one of those opportunities students and their teachers have to share about why this is an important day to recognize and why digital tools are important in regards to our learning. So my students created Kidblog posts and we are using Twitter this week also to share how and why we use digital tools.

This afternoon I asked my students to think about why this might be an important day to celebrate and what are the ways we use digital tools. I was really impressed and also felt validated about why digital tools are important. Here are some of the responses that were shared today.

We can have conversations with other people in the world.

We can share our learning with the world.

We show how we use them in a safe, kind and responsible way.

They make your brain think more things and they help you learn.

They help us to have conversations with other people. We connect.

You learn how to use digital tools.

They help you think better. They help you think when you don’t know what to do.

They want you to learn.

We celebrate this day because we want other people to know what we are doing.

Our parents know what we are learning.

They are fun.

We help each other and collaborate.

Learning is for everyone and technology gives us all a voice. Digital tools and platforms have enriched and engaged my own learning and that of both my students and their parents. The communication is ongoing, fluid and just by offering a variety of platforms to share, I am also modeling explicitly “how to” use tools in safe, kind and responsible ways. Parents want to be informed and engaged. They are important stakeholders in their child’s education. So today was another opportunity to model and celebrate the value and excitement me, my students and families have in regards to learning, but also how we share and reflect what we are exploring.